I’ll be honest, I have oddly been waiting for this one for a couple months. As always, it’s been rumours upon rumours hinting at what *might* be. Now this isn’t because I’ve found my Nikon D800E to be disappointing. Not one tiny bit! The D800E has gone around the world with me several times in the last couple years & has shot everything from editorials to large print campaigns in the Dubai deserts, mountains of Spain, skyscrapers of New York & faux-glam Hollywood. I’ve even filmed a fair amount with it too. I’ve put my D800E through it’s paces & it has delivered every single time. I would easily say it’s one of the best cameras I’ve ever owned.

So why am I excited about a replacement to a perfectly good (near perfect 35mm system) camera? Well, we always want more don’t we? Yeah, we’re unsatisfiable that way. Damn us. Pretty excited to see this morning that Nikon has launched the D810. I’ll mention a few highlights for me & if you want a super technical rundown, the boys at DPReview are always riding that pony.

‘Split screen zoom’ display in live view allows horizons/lines to be leveled precisely

51-point AF system with new ‘Group Area AF’ mode (inherited from D4S)

1080p @50/60fps

Zebra strips for focus checking in video mode

Uncompressed HDMI output with simultaneous recording to memory card

Built-in stereo microphone

Now suddenly it becomes very evident that they’ve taken what the D800E is & made it what the videographers have wanted all along. I know I felt the limitations of the D800E when it came to filming specifically. No uncompressed footage, no full HD @ 50fps, no zebra strips. Albeit these are all things that were possible by hacking your body & making use of things like Magic Lantern. But for those of us who didn’t want to go that route it was a little frustrating to do without.

Nikon says launch is the latter half of July 2014. I’ve already put my order in for one & look forward to giving you a more hands on review when I get my paws on it.

There is that phrase about “it’s not how much you have, but what you do with what you have”. This gets applied to photography very often when you hear someone bemoan the fact they don’t have the new f1.2 lens, or latest camera body that can do ISO 30,000,000 & it’s the reason they don’t shoot more, or shoot better images. This is getting applied more & more to filming too these days with available tech being readily accessible. While entry level equipment may not be shooting ProRes444 & allow for creamy highlights & massive dynamic latitude, the point remains -shootingf/filming/doing a good idea is better than just talking about it. Period.

This is why I personally love little stints like this one that Bentley Motors did. They filmed a short film about their vehicles & did the entire thing using an iPhone5S. They didn’t stop there. They then did the edit on an iPad Air. On top of that, they did it on the back seat of the vehicle they were filming. Now a lot of that is purely media hype ra-ra, but the fact is, these guys took the most basic equipment we all have (mine is lying next to me on the desk) and DID something. Instead of just talking about it on a round of beers, they took initiative. That is the underlying key to all this.

DOING something, whether its filming/shooting/baking/blogging/writing/sculpting/painting is better than just putting it off because you think you need that *something* to do it. That barrier is your own lazy ass. I’m guilty of this. We all are. Yet you’ll be surprised at how much you can create & do in 1 day. Just 1 day alone. So next time you think of opening up Facebook & twitter to complain (and waste away your entire day) about what you don’t have & can’t do, rather grab your smartphone & head out. Go film something. Go shoot something. At the end of the day you’ll be +1 portfolio piece & something for someone else to talk about. Yay you.

I had to share this one with you as it is easily one of the most moving & powerful South African adverts I’ve seen in many many years. The combo tugs a massive string with me personally, but it speaks of so many South African social issues we often don’t even think about. Check it out & leave your thoughts in the comments below.

I’m going to be making commercials like this one day in the not too distant future. Why? Because I believe I can & I want to. Creating something like this touches & moves more people than any editorial or commercial shoot may.

Sure it was the coldest winter on record and our flights got grounded (and some kid’s tongue got stuck to a pole) but that didn’t stop us from hitting the icy streets of New York to shoot the AW11 collection for Portmans. Working with world-renowned photographer Matt Jones and Girl On Top Abbey Lee, the New York Chill campaign included print advertising, fashion film, and in-store imagery.

Sometimes one supermodel isn’t enough. To launch Portmans’ new coloured denim range we cloned multiple Abbeys to help add some legs to the campaign. The results were so spectacular the jeans sold out in no time but unfortunately the cloning machine broke after we tried to make some spare Abbeys for the office. Can’t blame us for trying.